Location: The Hive

Herra, the four Mantis Lords, Hive Queen Vespa, The Pale King, Monomon the Teacher, and Ze'mer all sat around a table, or in Vespa's case, loomed over. The Hive was chosen as the meeting place as Vespa was too large to leave the Hive herself. All the leaders of the various factions were there, barring the Shade Lord, he had declined attendance for some reason, no one knew why.

Monomon was there, as if anyone could find a way to combat the tall beings, it would be her. Ze'Mer was there as an advisor, as she was the only one to actually see the tall being's area of operations.

The Mantis Lords were in the midst of suggesting another plan of attack, this caused Herra to groan in frustration.

"If we spearhead here, we can-"

"Enough Mantis!" Herra yelled, interrupting the Mantis Lord, the other members in attendance turned to face her.

Herra sighed "Look, we have been over this multiple times. We have all heard the stories of what these beings have shown to be capable of. As far as we know, any and all military action would be ineffective at best, at worst, provoke a more violent response"

"Heh" The attendance turned to Vespa.

"I find a bleak irony in the Beast of Deepnest being the voice of reason" Vespa said, with amusement in her voice.

"I merely do what's best for Deepnest Queen Vespa. It should not take a higher being to understand when something will not work. I may be ruthless, but I am no fool. Herra said respectfully.

Corda, a Mantis Lord, and sister to the other three spoke up.

"Though I loath to do so, I must agree with the Beast, a war with these creatures can only bring ruin"

Reava, another Mantis Lord, spoke up in opposition to her sister.

"Sister, flinching away from battle is not our-"

"Yes, sister, I know it is not our way. I am aware that you wish to meet these beings in honorable combat, to see who is the better warrior. I have that urge myself, but starting a war for honor, one that it does not look like we can win at that, would be foolish.

The other Mantis Lords appeared to be thinking of a rebuttal.

"May Che speak?" Ze'mer asked

"Yes, Ze'mer, you may" The Pale King said

"Beings show mercy to Che, let Che go. Tall ones did not end Che, let go, tall ones are not mindless, nor blinded by the urge to put an end to another. Perhaps peace is possible."

"That is... peculiar" Vespa said

"Hmm, Perhaps we should work to decipher their language, there is a possibility that these beings only resorted to violence because diplomacy was impossible"

"That would explain the reports of tall beings in Dirtmouth, though, they were able to speak" Monomon said

"There was a moth with them, a Seer in fact. This group of three tall beings fit the visual description of the first sighting. They were however responsible for the destruction of a City of Tears brigade… and robbery."

"So they lack honor" Talar, the Brother of the other three Mantis Lords stated.

"On the contrary, they seemed to have done this out of a sense of justice, as they gave warning which were ignored to the brigade, and the thing they stole was apparently a Moth Tribe artifact. An artifact the Seer they were traveling with would find most important. They also defended said Seer against local delinquants" Monomon explained.

"Perhaps the Seer gave the tall ones the ability to communicate?" Vespa offered

"Much of their magic involves that of the mind, and are able to decipher the thoughts of individuals who do not speak their language. It does not seem implausible to assume, as they are the only group of tall beings that can communicate with other bugs"

The Pale King was silent, this made things… tough, to say the least. He had expelled the Moth Tribe as punishment for the infection, how was he supposed to convince them to give him the ability to have an audience with those things?

Asking the Shade Lord for help was off the table, he had broken off all cooperation. He was also uncertain if the Lord could defeat these beings, they were mostly unknown. The Shade Lord was the vaunted God of Gods, but that did not stop the tall beings from breaking into the Abyss rescuing one of their kidnapped kin.

Suddenly, the door to the room where the attendees were meeting opened.

One of the Pale King's trusted messengers entered the room, and gave a bow.

"What is the meaning of this interruption!?" Reava shouted.

"I apologies for the interruption, but… a nightmare troupe had been reported in Dirtmouth" The messenger said.

The Pale King put his hands to his head, could things not get more complicated, FOR FIVE MINUTES!?